SC Orders Madhya Pradesh HC to Reevaluate Termination of Six Women Judges

The Supreme Court has instructed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to reexamine its decision to terminate the services of six women civil judges.

A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh directed the full court of the High Court to reconsider the representations of the affected judges within a month.

“We request the full court of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to reconsider the cases of these judicial officers. On reconsideration, a copy of the resolution be placed before this court preferably within four weeks,” the bench stated.

In January this year, the Apex Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the termination of the six judges by the Madhya Pradesh government. The bench appointed Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal as Amicus Curiae to assist the Court in the matter and issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

The Madhya Pradesh government, in June 2023, terminated the services of the six civil judges following a recommendation by the High Court. The termination orders were issued by the law department after an administrative committee and a full court meeting found their performance during the probation period unsatisfactory.

During an earlier hearing, the bench had orally asked the High Court whether it was willing to reconsider its decision. When the case was heard by the Supreme Court, the Amicus suggested that the High Court should reconsider its decision. Following this, the Supreme Court passed an order asking the High Court to reexamine the matter.

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